Removing Free submissions when a directory goes paid - Ethical?

I just read elsewhere where a directory owner who is now advertising paid submissions mentioned that he removed all the prior free directory entries.

When a free directory goes paid, is it normal to remove all of the free directory entries? If so, I had no idea things worked that way.

It can't be ethical ... but is that normal?


I'd appreciate any comments.


Thank you

 

It isn't normally the case and personally I don't think its the right thing to do.

As far as ethical, Im not sure. There is no contract there and I think people just assume their link will always appear. In the end its the site owners right.

 

Not very ethical at all. If this is the way the guy does business, then I wouldn't expect his now paid directory to very well.

 

unethical. always honour the free queue. otherwise you have mislead.

 

You can change the submission type by anyway but u should never remove the previous links that were free.

 

Also, a question you should ask the owner of this directory (and others that do the same), why in world would they dump all their old listings in the first place? I would love to hear one good reason for doing so.

 

Yes, i feel that a full directory which is doing well would be more appealing to pay to get into.. (Although I personally wouldn't pay to get into any directory (unless it's a pr 8 ))

I wouldn't pay to get into an empty directory... Just doesn't seem to make much sense...

 

Alright ... so I see that when a directory goes paid that it is not normal for the owner to remove the entries that were previously submitted as free.

I was afraid all my free submisison work was wasted because I didn't understand the process.


Thank you all for your comments.

 

I think we all know this is in reference to this thread.

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=118448

 

I agree it's very unprofessional way of conducting a business.
That guy above advertises his Alexa/daily traffic on his new paid directory,
and that would not be possible without people who volunteered to submit.

 

I agree with the rest, its not a very nice thing to do.

 

who cares it is just another directory and btw it is not accessible at the moment

 

Progression to a paid model is not uncommon with general web directories as the owners attempt to monetize their efforts. Many directory owners are able to make this transition smoothly and others seem to go about it in what appears to be the wrong way.

Deleting the existing database when switching to a paid inclusion directory is the owners prerogative, but is likely to be viewed as less than favorable or unethical, and they will most likely end up alienating those that supported them initially and can backfire.

As far as the concern over submitting your sites to free directories, I wouldn't worry about the possibility that the listing might get removed in the future. Hopefully, you have seen some benfit to having had your site listed before the transition. It only took a few minutes of your time to submit, so there's no real loss.

You should also keep in mind that a number of directories you're submitting to today might not be around in a year.

 

Yes. I think it can backfire not only because it annoys webmasters, who then get rid of any links they have to that directory, but also because it makes the directory itself less useful. It's flushing a lot of work down the toilet, and for what? It's only a minority of free submitters who would have bought a link anyhow.

This is far more of a concern when you spend time on free submissions, than the number of directories that dump the free list.

But, there are those that do. You have to factor this in, when you consider your strategy for getting links from directories.

 

Some will never realize this.

 

The original submissions to a directory take a chance with an unknown. They took the time to submit and follow all the guidelines. Yes, it only takes a moment or two - but it could have been spent submitting to another directory. The original submitters helped to build the business; without them it would be hard to justify paid only submissions. I would agree it is terribly poor form to alienate these folks by breaking what was an implied contract.

As to free submissions upgrading to paid...I have 2 existing free links and one in the end of the free submission queue on a site that has since gone paid. The owner emailed announcing the change and that he will be honoring the queue. His site has been driving some traffic to mine. Once my sites start performing better (read make some money) I plan on upgrading my listings.

 

I agree with the rest - it sounds pretty stupid to do so and not really noce as well - but it doesnt really matter what we think - its his decision...

 

There is nothing stupid in it. People visit directories very very less number of times after their link is approved. Moreover, it is the directory owner's wish to keep it or to remove it. You can't fight over something you have no moral right to. Who asked you to submit there in the first place...eh!!?

 

Damn good post. ++ for you :bigthumb:

edit:
doh, it wont let me spread some luv